A picture taken on June 12, 2017 shows the view from the Oriental Desert Express train en route from Oujda to Bouarfa in northeastern Morocco. The track in the remote east near the border with Algeria was originally built nearly 100 years ago when Morocco was a French protectorate. The 350-kilometre journey through the desert can take between eight to twelve hours, and sometimes even more, depending on the sandstorms. (AFP Photo)
Bouarfa: Edouard Kunz knows timekeeping is important but the former Swiss watch precision mechanic admits that James Bond's Oriental Desert Express in remote eastern Morocco never runs on schedule.
The train, made famous in the 2015 Bond movie "Spectre", trundles tourists between the town of Oujda and the former mining city of Bouarfa along a 350-kilometre-long (215-mile) stretch of desert.
"It takes between eight and 12 hours to make the trip, sometimes even more," says Kunz, 70, who is known as Edi, blaming sandstorms for frequent delays.
His passion for trains put him in the driver's seat more than 10 years ago when he persuaded Morocco's National Office of Railways to let him run a tourist train on a disused railway line.
The track that runs near the border with Algeria was originally built nearly 100 years ago when Morocco was a French protectorate.